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Listening in all the Wrong Places: Women and the art of Pacific Policy Making
Conference presentation   Open access

Listening in all the Wrong Places: Women and the art of Pacific Policy Making

Cathryn Morriss
USC Research Conference, 2013 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 01-Jul-2013–05-Jul-2013)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2013
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Abstract

Policy and Administration Sociology Anthropology Pacific region policy making women
The beauty of the voice lies in its intimacy. A voice can belong to only one, but can speak to and for many. A voice unheard remains a voice, albeit then known only to its owner. In the Pacific region, where women make up less than five percent of democratic parliamentary representation, their voices can be quieted. Feminist approaches to understanding policy development present an opportunity to redress the historically gendered narratives of the lives of Pacific women by revealing silenced voices. Invoking women's voice in historical and contemporary accounts of how policy impacts women enables a reinterpretation that is nuanced and sensitive to the lived experiences of those women subject to policy outcomes. Calling on the direct voice of Pacific Island women through their poetry, and the inclusion of literature from disciplines such as anthropology which have been more prolific in examining women's perspectives than International Relations, my research brings to the fore Pacific women's opinions and perceptions that are often left outside the dialogue of policy planning. It can allow us to 'see' the grey areas, hear the whispers of those outside the doors of power, and feel the hearts cry of the individual thus applying a rich tapestry of women's knowledge to the often mechanical processes of 'policy development'. This approach challenges traditional scientific approaches to research that assume an objective and impartial standpoint as the only valid standpoint. It challenges how these are deeply embedded in academic processes. Renegotiating what constitutes valid knowledge reorients the academic process, includes the personal as political, and welcomes alternate ways of knowledge sharing that are part of the rich landscape of the Pacific such as poetry and song, storytelling, and creative arts. It reveals that women are present, engaged and passionate about policy but that policy makers are often listening in all the wrong places.

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